Diamonds go down in Delhi epic

The Diamonds fell just short after fighting back from seven goals down in the final term.

Tracey Nearmy: AAP

New Zealand needed double extra-time to beat world champions Australia 66-64 in a thrilling netball gold medal match at the Delhi Commonwealth Games.

Scores had been locked at 47-47 at the end of regular time before two periods of extra-time failed to separate the arch rivals at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex.

With the victor needing a two-goal buffer to secure the gold medal in double extra-time, the titanic contest continued into the sudden-death play and it was goal attack Maria Tutaia who landed the winning score for the Silver Ferns.

The triumph means the Silver Ferns defended the Commonwealth title they won in Melbourne in 2006.

Diamonds star Cath Cox, who came on as a late replacement at goal shooter, says it will be hard to recover from the agonising defeat.

"It hurts every time, it doesn't matter who you're playing against in a situation like that," she said.

"Especially when it goes on for so long, it is gut-wrenching. It's four years now, we have to wait for another tournament.

"We were waiting for four years from the last one to have another crack at it and that in itself is even more gut-wrenching."

Diamonds centre Natalie von Bertouch shared Cox's pain.

"It was a hard-ball game and it was anyone's game a number of times," she said.

"A few times I guess we thought we had it and they were good enough to come back, so very well deserved for them but we're absolutely shattered."

The Diamonds deserv praise for even havingforced extra-time, after trailing by seven goals at one stage during the final quarter.

A time-out allowed Diamonds coach Norma Plummer to make a key substitution, bringing on Cox to replace Natalie Medhurst with the Silver Ferns leading 40-33.

Cox's entry into the match had an immediate impact, as she helped the Diamonds to score 14 of the next 21 goals.

She had a chance to clinch the gold for Australia with just seconds on the clock, but she missed with her attempt and extra-time followed.

Extra-time was even more exciting than the late stages of the fourth term and with the Diamonds ahead 58-57 towards the end of the second seven-minute period, Tutaia levelled scores, meaning whoever was the next to lead by two goals would walk away with the main prize.

Cox had another chance when the Diamonds were ahead 59-58, but once the Silver Ferns equalised the ascendancy seemed to shift into the favour of the defending champions.

The Diamonds never held the lead again and, with the score level on 64-64, Tutaia put an end to the encounter with back-to-back goals.

Van Dyk's counterpart Sharelle McMahon shot at 88 per cent to lead the scoring for the Diamonds with 30 from 34 shots, and Cox was effective upon coming on in the final quarter with 20 from 26.

No quarter asked

The tightness of the contest was illustrated in the opening quarter with the Diamonds being held to a 10-9 lead at the first break.

The Diamonds lacked the accuracy they showed in their earlier matches when they shot at 90 per cent, and it was Medhurst who was struggling the most.

At the other end of the court though, Diamonds goal keeper Susan Fuhrmann was doing well in shutting down van Dyk and she set the scene for the first term when she intercepted the first pass to the Silver Ferns captain.

That left goal attack Tutaia having to take on most of the work, and she did well to trouble the Diamonds' defence on more than one occasion.

The Diamonds never enjoyed a significant buffer on the scoreboard and they could have easily had the Silver Ferns level pegging at quarter-time had Mo'onia Gerrard not blocked a van Dyk attempt on goal with no time left on the clock.

The second quarter saw the Diamonds begin to assert themselves, having improved their accuracy on goal while also capitalising on the Silver Ferns' growing error rate.

Twice they opened up a four-goal advantage and although the Silver Ferns cut back the lead on both occasions, they rarely looked likely catching up to the Diamonds before half-time.

Medhurst was looking more comfortable under the net and she eventually helped push the Diamonds out to a five-goal lead with three minutes remaining until half-time, only for the Silver Ferns to peg two back.

The Diamonds led 23-20 at the main change but the Silver Ferns made two changes to their line-up, replacing wing defence Joline Henry with Anna Scarlett and wing attack Tempepara George with Liana Barrett-Chase.

It had the desired effect as by three-quarter time the Silver Ferns had opened up a two-goal lead.

Van Dyk was starting to free herself from Fuhrmann and she made her presence felt for much of the quarter.

She goaled following a McMahon turnover with two minutes until three-quarter time to put the Silver Ferns ahead for the first time in the match, before they added to their lead to be up 35-33.

The Silver Ferns then started the fourth quarter with a blitz on goal, pouring on five straight to lead 40-33 before the Diamonds brought Cox into play early in the term.